US vows crackdown on 'staggering' leaks, warns leakers

The Trump administration today issued a stern warning to those behind "the staggering number of leaks" of classified information and said that it was reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas.
The assertion came a day after The Washington Post posted highly classified transcripts of Trump's conversations with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
"I strongly agree with the President and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks undermining the ability of our government to protect this country," US Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters at a news conference here.
"No one is entitled to surreptitiously fight to advance battles in the media by revealing sensitive government information," Sessions said.

Asserting that America "must end this culture of leaks", Sessions said the Department of Justice will investigate and bring criminals to justice.
"We will not allow rogue anonymous sources with security clearances to sell out our country. These cases, to investigate and prosecute, are never easy, but cases will be made and leakers will be held accountable," he asserted.

"No government can be effective when its leaders cannot discuss sensitive matters in confidence or talk freely in confidence with foreign leaders," said Sessions as he was joined by top intelligence officials to talk about the dramatic growth in the number of unauthorised disclosures of classified national security information in recent months.

The leaks are being made to both the media and, in some cases, even unauthorised disclosures to the foreign adversaries, Sessions said.
"Don't do it," Sessions said in a warning to the leakers.
"One of the things we are doing is reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas. We respect the important role that the press plays and will give them respect. But it is not unlimited. They cannot place lives at risk with impunity," Sessions asserted.
"We must balance the press' role with protecting our national security and the lives of those who serve in the intelligence community, the armed forces, and all law-abiding Americans," he said.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said these disclosures have resulted in a major threat to US national security.
"They endanger the men and women of the intelligence community, the armed services, and those who serve overseas," he said.
"They give our adversaries knowledge of our activities. They impede our ability to share information with our allies. There is also a real cost in dollars to compensate for blown programmes. And, most importantly, as I have previously noted, these unauthorised disclosures endanger the safety and security of Americans across the country," Coats said.
According to Coats, these national security breaches do not just originate in the intelligence community but they come from a wide range of sources within the government, including the executive branch and Congress.

"Any disclosure of unauthorised outside of authorised channels is a criminal offense, and we will simply not tolerate the illegal release of classified information," Coats said.